Wonderland
by rexlover180
Summary: A boring party, the same boring faces, the same boring conversations. Matthew was tired of it all, tired of people not listening to him. Tired of running away from conversation that didn't involve his brother right next to him. A fall down a hole. A strange man dressed like a cat. Even stranger people that all knew his name. Just what Matthew needed. PruCan.
1. Chapter 1

Matthew didn't like this. Not at all. He knew the faces, he knew the people, he'd memorized everything about everyone that would be attending this party for him. But he hated them all. The fake smiles plastered on their faces, the random gifts that they had someone else wrap for them, the idle chatter as none of them looked at him. Matthew hated it. He hated parties, he hated being forced to be the center of attention, and his family knew that.

But they still conducted a party for him. His family was important, one of the top manufacturers in North America, and so all kinds of dignitaries from around the world came to this stupid party because Matthew was turning 21. Alfred, Matthew's younger brother by two years, loved these kinds of things. He basked in the attention and laughed and smiled with everyone, making idle chatter with the knowledge he had memorized just like Matthew. There were always long guest lists and they had to do their research. Know about that girl's dog and that guy's sick parents, and then start conversations. Matthew hated it, Alfred loved it. That was always the core difference between them. They looked almost exactly alike, but Matthew liked to be quiet. Alfred loved to be loud.

And so, Matthew stood near the table, not caring to look around at the meaningless faces around him, holding onto a his cup of punch tightly, but not tight enough to break the glass. Alfred was aimlessly conversing with everyone, talking about their kids, talking about their goals after they graduated college. It was all the same conversation to Matthew. It didn't mean anything.

Matthew yawned. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, he'd been so nervous for this. He hated these events, mostly for the people that tried to converse with him. He didn't like to talk to people he didn't know, but everyone wanted to talk to him. Especially if it was his own birthday. Matthew yawned again and fell back slightly onto the table. He was definitely sleeping well that night. He could already tell.

He sighed as he looked around the crowd, forcing all of them to be faceless aside from his brother. He wished his brother would stay close to him so he wouldn't be bored all of the time during these parties while Alfred ran off to talk to everyone. He was the one person he didn't mind talking to. But, no, his life just couldn't be easy, could it? Someone started walking up to him. Matthew offered a shy smile before darting in the other direction, leaving his punch glass on the table to be forgotten.

He looked around for Alfred again, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. Matthew sighed heavily, where could his brother have gone? All of these people were putting him on edge, maybe he just needed to go and cool off. The party was already outside, close to the maze they had made in the garden out of rose bushes. Before anyone else could look at him and try talking to him, Matthew left the area laid out for all of their guests and went into the maze.

He sighed with relief as he walked and the music of the party slowly drowned away from his hearing. He smiled at the beautiful rose bushes and sighed happily. This was nice, this was okay. A chance for him to be alone. He was happy when he wasn't pressured to always talk to people. His parents just didn't realize this. Alfred sort of did, but he never did anything to help Matthew out.

Matthew turned a random corner, not even sure where he really was anymore, and saw something…strange. It was Alfred, but something was off. He still wore a suit that nearly matched Matthew's own, but now he was holding a pocket watch, something Matthew had never seen him wear before. And then there was his ears. Matthew had to blink and rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He had…bunny ears on top of his head. Pure white.

"Alfred?" Matthew asked and Alfred looked back at him with a smirk and a wink before running off. Matthew was left really confused. His brother was always up to something, but never something like this. Especially not in the middle of a party he was obviously enjoying just a moment beforehand. So, Matthew did the most logical thing he could think of. He chased his brother.

Alfred lead him through many twists and turns of the maze that they both knew extremely well. The more Matthew followed him, the more he noticed about those ears. They…twitched and moved with the wind and moved his hair with them. How did Alfred find something like that? What possessed him to want rabbit ears, of all things?

Finally, they ran out of the maze and Matthew stumbled to a stop. Right in front of him was a huge hole, so deep it looked pitch black all the way down. Matthew stared at it with wide eyes as he regained his breath after running for so long. He was really confused, though. Where had this hole come from? This was all really weird…He couldn't understand. Where had Alfred gone? Did he fall in the hole? No, Matthew would have heard him yell in surprise.

"Wow, that's some fall there," Alfred laughed behind him and Matthew jumped to glare at his brother, who just laughed.

"What are you even doing? Shouldn't you be at the party?" Matthew snapped.

"The party down there?" Alfred glanced behind him. "I'm taking you there right now, silly."

"What?" Matthew asked, shaking his head. How had Alfred even gotten there? None of this made any sense!

"Have a nice trip!" Alfred winked and pushed Matthew backwards. Matthew immediately wheeled his arms around and tried to grab onto his brother, but he had already fallen too far. He plunged into the hole, screaming for his life.

He could feel his heart in his head as he screamed, trying desperately to grab onto something, but he couldn't reach the walls around him. Wind rushed past his head and he could hardly hear his own screams. He could hardly breathe.

And he just…continued to fall. Matthew slowly regained his wits about him and he was still falling. The feeling in his gut slowly dulled, the blackness surrounding him. Just as he almost grew comfortable, he landed onto something, hitting it only as hard as if he would have fallen from his own height. Matthew stared ahead, watching the black slowly morph into a bright, clear, blue sky. Clouds moved easily in front of him.

Maybe he just passed out from being tired, maybe that was just a dream. It felt like there was grass on his back, maybe he just passed out in the garden. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something felt…off. That fall had felt so real, Alfred pushing him had felt so real. Matthew shook his head and slowly tried to get up, but then another weird thing happened.

A face popped up above him and Matthew screamed, falling back onto his back. He didn't recognize this person at all and his heart pounded once again. This man had wicked red eyes and bright white hair. He gave Matthew a bright smirk, showing off his oversized canines. The thing that stood out the most, however, was the fact that he had purple cat ears peeking out over his head.

"Wow, that was some fall!" the man gave out a cackling laugh while Matthew pressed himself as far as he could into the grass below him. This was weird. Definitely not normal. Definitely not the party. At Matthew's reaction, the man laughed harder, disappearing from sight and Matthew glanced back. The man was resting on his backside, holding onto his stomach, he was laughing so hard. Matthew saw a purple tail dance along the grass beside him. He was fairly well dressed, too, in a strapping suit that didn't seem to suit him at all.

"Wh-who are…" Matthew cursed himself for being unable to properly talk to strangers. "Who…"

"Don't get all tongue tied now," the man smirked while Matthew sat upright and turned towards him. He noticed that they were in some kind of large clearing, surrounded by deep forest on all sides. Before Matthew could react, the man was leaning close to him, running a single finger up his chin and making him look the man in the eyes. "I know I'm gorgeous and all."

Matthew was speechless. He blushed brightly as he stared at the crimson eyes of the man in front of him. The man looked like he expected an answer, but Matthew's voice had long since packed up and gone away. He sputtered instead, finally thinking to crawl away from the man, who pouted.

"Come on," the man smirked and, suddenly, he disappeared from sight. "I liked hearing your voice." Matthew screamed and jumped, immediately looking behind him, where the voice had come from. Surprisingly, the man was there. "No matter how quiet it is," the man smirked, leaning closer again. This time, Matthew thought to quickly get onto his feet, away from the maniac trying to get close to him.

"Get…get away," Matthew muttered and the man raised an eyebrow before disappearing again.

"Where did you have in mind?" His voice asked from nowhere in particular, but then Matthew saw him in the trees a fair way in front of him. "I can go anywhere, just ask." He disappeared again. "I can go backwards." That time the voice was behind Matthew again, but when he looked, the man was long gone. "Or forwards." That was to his side, but Matthew was too slow once again.

"Just….stop!" Matthew snapped and the man appeared in front of him with a bow and a smirk.

"As you wish," the man winked at him on his way back to standing properly. Matthew's blush returned with a vengeance.

"Where… Who…" Matthew's mind was reeling, going way too fast for him to figure out any of his thoughts. He had too many questions, and he couldn't even formulate the words to get him out.

"Where?" the man hummed and started walking around Matthew in circles, almost like he was the cat's prey. "You can call it whatever you would like, but I particularly enjoy the name Wonderland, it's got a nice ring to it. Who? Well, I come with many names as well, but you may call me Gilbert, if it pleases you, Matthew."

"How…how did you…"

"Know your name?" Gilbert winked at him, stopping right in front of him. "Well, I would have to, now wouldn't I?"

"Why?" Matthew asked carefully. He had to tiptoe around this guy, crazy as he was. Those ears and tail were interesting enough on their own, but with his disappearing act Matthew couldn't explain, he had to be on edge. Was this a dream? No, it felt far too real to be a dream. What was this, then?

"You ask way too many questions," Gilbert smirked, leaning close once again. "You remind me of Kiku." He laughed and took a step back, much to Matthew's relief. He tried to regain his bearings. At least, at the moment, Gilbert didn't look like he was about to kill him, so that was a plus. He looked around at the forest. There had to be some way around all of this, there had to be some kind of normal person he could talk to. "Wanna figure out where to go?" Gilbert asked, far too close to Matthew's ear. Matthew jumped away and glared at the cat, who simply gave him a smirk. "Well," Gilbert leaned on Matthew's shoulder, but he felt nothing, not even Gilbert's touch. "Depends where you wanna go."

"Home…" Matthew mumbled and Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

"Home?" He scoffed. "That boring place? Why the hell would you wanna go back? To the boring parties and the boring ass people?"

"I should go back," Matthew muttered and Gilbert groaned, pushing off of him and walking slowly in front of him.

"Fine, party pooper," Gilbert rolled his eyes. "I know a guy. Follow me and you'll be safe." Gilbert whirled around to a random direction with a smirk and started walking, disappearing shortly afterwards. He didn't reappear.

"Gilbert?" Matthew asked, looking around. There was no sign of the man and Matthew sighed heavily, facing the last direction Gilbert had. Follow him, eh? "I hope I can trust him…" Matthew shook his head, knowing it was a stupid idea to follow anything a strange man he'd just met said. But he really had no other choice, at least not if he wanted to know where he was going. He couldn't afford to get lost. He had to go home.

So he started his trek into the forest, being extremely careful not to change his direction from the one Gilbert had before he disappeared. He trudged through this Wonderland, hoping that this wasn't all there really was to it.

* * *

**Yay! Happy December everybody! I'm so happy! I'm going to do what I did in October and basically update this short little thing sporadically throughout the month, ending hopefully on Christmas and then posting something else entirely on New Years' Eve! It's a party! Anyway…**

**I've noticed a lot of people doing Alice in Wonderland fics recently and I really wanted to try it, especially now that my friend's got me hooked on the manga "Alice in the Country of Hearts" and all of the series that follow after it. I'm obsessed. But it's not a bad thing. In any case, I'm twisting the plotline to fit my own needs, but expect to see characters from Hetalia as characters from Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass or whatever really came first, I don't know. Also, this will be a PruCan, but I don't think there are any other explicit pairings, except maybe AusHun because it's so easy to hint at.**

**So…next chapter look forward to meeting….The Caterpillar.**

**And please review!**

**Oh, and I do not and never will own Hetalia!**


	2. Chapter 2

Matthew huffed as he continued on his trek, moving various branches out of his face from time to time. There were no animals of any kind or rustling aside from his own. It was almost lonely, but he liked being alone, it gave him a chance to think, collect his thoughts. So he was in a dream, basically. A really weird dream. But most people thought dreams were realistic before they woke up, so that meant it was all fine. Nothing to worry about. He just had to make it through this dream and he'd be fine. It wasn't like anything could really hurt him, anyway.

He'd been walking for a really long time, though. He expected something to pop up, maybe that stupid cat got him going in some random direction that wouldn't lead him anywhere…He was about to retrace his steps in hopes of getting back to that clearing, when he reached a small opening that lead to a small house. Matthew glanced around before looking back at the house, steam puffing out of the chimney.

Matthew carefully walked forward. Maybe the person inside would be a little more normal than the last one and he could get helpful advice. Gilbert had said that this person would be important in getting home, so it would be worth checking out at the very least. He just had to work up the courage to talk. He stopped in front of the door, staring at the gold knocker on the dark wood. Maybe he should just try his luck with walking around. He didn't like starting a conversation with strangers. Not in the slightest.

And then the door cracked open, revealing dark brown eyes looking at him carefully. "Who are you?"

"Uh…" Matthew paused for a moment, the eyes staring at him unblinkingly. "I'm…M-Ma…"

"Matthew?" the man behind the door asked. That was weird, this was the second person that knew his name without him telling them.

"Yes…" Matthew said slowly. The door opened carefully and, in front of him, stood a small Asian man, shorter than him. Matthew blinked. This man wasn't intimidating at all, standing in front of him in a simple kimono as he assessed him.

"Why are you here?" the man asked.

"Uh…it's a…long story," Matthew muttered. This guy didn't look scary, and he almost seemed easy to talk to. This wasn't as stressful as the last one.

"What is it?"

"Um…this…cat, I guess…" Matthew shrugged. "Uh, Gilbert? He said…you could…h-help me…get home." That was a train wreck, but at least he got all of it out. This guy was kind of easy to talk to.

"Where is home?"

Matthew raised an eyebrow. This man was only asking him questions. He hadn't done anything but ask a question. Now that was curious. Matthew bit his lip, deciding to continue anyway. Maybe this man was just cautious and liked to know everything about someone before he opened up himself.

"A small estate…" Matthew shrugged awkwardly. "New York?"

"Where is that?" the man asked.

"North America? Earth?" Matthew tried.

"Is it in Wonderland?"

"No, it's definitely not," Matthew shook his head. That was when Matthew noticed something. Sitting on top of this man's head were two, hardly noticeable antennae. Matthew took a small, hardly noticeable step back.

"Why do you want to go back?" the man asked curiously.

"It's home," Matthew shrugged uselessly. "Can you help me?"

"Can I?" the man asked and turned around, going back into his house. Matthew carefully followed the man, assuming he was invited since the door was open. He was surprised to see that the entirety of the furniture in the house was made of mushrooms. The man sat down on a chair made of a rather large one. This was weird.

"Gilbert said you could," Matthew said and the man raised an eyebrow.

"Why would he say that?" The man asked, mostly to himself.

"Why do you only ask questions?" Matthew asked him.

"Why not?" The man asked simply.

"Wow, really?" Gilbert's voice laughed and Matthew jumped, turning around in time to see Gilbert appear out of nowhere. He leaned on thin air around him with a smirk and the man blinked at him simply, only appearing slightly surprised. So Gilbert did this a lot? "Kiku, man, you've gotta think outside the box more! What about those philosophical questions you like so much?"

"Was that not philosophical?" the man, Kiku, asked, clearly confused.

"Whatever," Gilbert scoffed and stood upright, standing between the two in the room. "Birdie."

"That's…not…my…" Matthew bit his lip.

"I know, but I like the ring of Birdie," Gilbert winked and Matthew looked away. Kiku was, by far, a lot easier to talk to. Gilbert smirked in amusement and Matthew looked at Kiku, who looked between them with a small smile.

"Have you found someone, Gilbert?" Kiku asked and Gilbert rolled his eyes, obviously flustered but not willing to admit it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gilbert shrugged. "Anyway, can you help the kid or not? He wants to get home."

"Do you want him to go home?" Kiku asked. Matthew watched with amusement. Kiku really had a good handle on Gilbert, knowing just what questions to ask him to get the conversation to go in the direction he wanted it to. It was impressive.

"He wants to, I don't see how what I want plays in here," Gilbert rolled his eyes.

Matthew laughed slightly, but noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He glanced where he saw it and saw someone sticking their head in from outside the door. Curious, Matthew took a step closer and found that it was his own brother, his new bunny ears drooping to the side.

"What _do _you want?" Kiku asked.

"Does it matter?" Gilbert scoffed.

Alfred noticed him and immediately set off running in another direction.

"Wait! Al!" Matthew yelled after him and chased after him. Gilbert shouted at him, but Matthew didn't care. His brother was here with him. That would be the saving grace he needed. Alfred could talk to all of these people for him and Matthew could just slide by easily. He just needed to catch up with his brother. Shortly after the chase began, however, Matthew completely lost him. "Al!" Matthew huffed. Why was his brother running from him? He couldn't be scared, nothing scared him. What was this?

That was when Matthew glanced around and noticed that he had no idea where he was. It was dark in this part of the forest, definitely a darker shade than the rest. The ground was all muddy, ruining his shoes completely and Matthew groaned. He took a breath to collect himself. If he did this properly, he could make it out.

_Remember, Matthew, this is a dream._ He reminded himself and smiled slightly. Right, this was a dream. He could do what he wanted without consequence. Everything would be okay. He didn't need his brother, definitely not. He could handle a silly dream well enough on his own. He could do this.

He started walking with confidence in some random direction. Maybe he could find the end of this dream, if he was lucky, but he was sure he wasn't that lucky. He searched for what felt like an eternity before he reached an odd sign. It was all twisted and had several arrows on it, all of them pointing in a random direction.

One of them read "TEA" while another read "ROSES". Yet another boasted "WHO" and then another said "CLOCK". Matthew looked at all of the signs curiously, wondering where any of these really lead to.

"Thank God, thought I lost ya there," Gilbert cackled and Matthew took a step back, looking up at the cat, who was perched happily on top of the post of signs. "Guess you wanna know where you're going now, huh?"

"Depends…" Matthew muttered. Gilbert happily flipped off the post and landed perfectly on his feet before turning on his heel to stare at the sign. "Yeah, well, you could go to the Queen, but she's a crazy, psycho bitch, so I'd advise against it. The Hatter's not much better…There aren't really a lot of good options here. Clock's off limits to you right now anyway."

"What?" Matthew asked. What was this clock and why couldn't he go there? This was his dream, after all.

"Part of the rules we gotta play by," Gilbert winked and Matthew blushed slightly before taking a tentative step forward.

"This…this is my dream," Matthew muttered. This was a dream, he could talk to a figment of his own imagination. It would be fine. He could handle this. "I decide the rules."

"No you don't," Gilbert laughed, shooting Matthew down entirely. "Nice try, though. And I like your confident voice, how come you don't use it more?"

"What? Why can't I make the rules?" Matthew demanded. This was his dream, he could do what he wanted! Hell, if he wanted to, he could teleport like Gilbert was!

"It's not a part of the rules~!" Gilbert said in a sing-song voice. "But, if you wanna get to the clock, you gotta play the game right. So…I guess choose between Rose and Tea. I'd go for Tea, but then again you could get rose done with first…"

"I'm going to Clock," Matthew muttered, shaking his head and moving in the direction that the sign pointed him in. He didn't need that stupid cat to tell him where to go, he could handle this on his own.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Gilbert smirked and Matthew blinked in surprise when he saw the cat lying horizontally in midair, following Matthew's pace perfectly beside him.

"Yes," Matthew nodded. "This is my dream, I know what I decide."

"Uh-hu," Gilbert nodded with a smirk. Matthew narrowed his eyes. He obviously knew something but he wasn't sharing it. That could never be a good thing. Especially not with Gilbert. "And you know exactly where you're going?"

"I don't need your help," Matthew shook his head.

"Sure," Gilbert quipped and Matthew rolled his eyes. His dream shouldn't back-sass him like this. What was going on? Matthew took a deep breath as he continued. The forest grew a lighter color, which was good. And Gilbert merely hummed the whole way, a tune Matthew didn't even know. How could he wake up from this? Maybe there was something at Clock that he could use.

As he got further, he noticed that he could smell the scent of tea around him and he was confused. He'd followed the path clearly marked "CLOCK", so why was he smelling tea?

"Oh, yeah, you didn't give me a chance to mention," Gilbert laughed. "Those signs were mixed up! Oh, if only you'd allowed me to tell you where to go, I'd have told you where Clock was and taken you there so you could see just how little you can do."

"Are you serious?" Matthew stopped and Gilbert moved ahead just a little bit before landing gracefully on his feet.

"Hell yeah," Gilbert smirked, leaning against a tree. "Be my guest, walk up to the tea and see for yourself that you've found yourself at the Tea Party."

Matthew glared at him but trudged ahead anyway, bypassing the cat that stayed right where he was. There was no way, that had to be a trick. Maybe they just had tea at Clock, that would make sense, a lot of people liked tea. He reached a random canopy of leaves and, as soon as he moved it out of his way, he realized that he was definitely not at Clock.

* * *

**And Imma end on a nice cliffhanger that's not really a cliffhanger. I'm really happy with this! Y'all have no idea! I liked having Kiku as the Caterpillar and only asking questions, maybe it's a curse or something, I don't know. But I wanted him to come more or less first because Matthew needed to get comfortable talking to people. You can see his confidence growing, but that's mostly because he thinks this is all a dream. But that's okay!**

**Anywho…next chapter we get to meet….The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, and The Door Mouse! (Fair warning, I'm not including **_**all**_** of the characters, but I'm trying. And I'm including an extra because a certain character I needed didn't have a place anywhere else)**

**I've also had a few questions and reviews, and by the way thank you for all of those. No, this isn't based on Alice in the Country of Hearts, it's based on Alice in Wonderland, so there won't be an Ace character. I hope that maybe cleared something up. I am twisting everything a bit, like including a character or two of my own, but it's all going on the same track as the "original" I'm going after.**

**And I'm done talking! So please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

In front of him was an incredibly awkward, long, spread of tables connected by one, tattered white cloth that seemed to have a few spills here and there on it. Behind it was a rather cute, small house with doors for windows and windows for doors. Other than that, there was nothing else in this clearing of the woods. Despite how large the table was, there were only three people sitting at it. There were two men on either side of the table, that seemed to still be laughing at some joke. One of them had shoulder length blonde hair and rabbit ears to match, but these were nothing like Alfred's. Alfred's stuck straight up, these drooped onto his shoulders, almost looking like part of his hair. The man across from him had short, chocolate brown hair as well as huge, round ears fit for a mouse. Like Gilbert, they both wore suits, but didn't seem to mind getting relaxed in them. Both of them had very tattered tea cups before them filled with untouched tea as well as what looked like charcoal on their plates.

The person at the head of the table, the furthest from Matthew, actually didn't have animal ears, as much that Matthew could see, which was a relief. Not everyone here was crazy. He was relaxed in his own chair, which almost resembled a throne, much more opulent than the rest of the chairs around him. He had ragged blonde hair mostly hidden underneath a top hat assorted with playing cards and random assortments of cloth. They barely covered what Matthew could safely assume were massive eyebrows that almost nearly covered his emerald green eyes. His suit was very well put together, he obviously had a lot of pride, considering all the care he obviously put into making it look more than presentable.

The man at the end of the table was glaring at the other two until he noticed Matthew and perked up slightly with a smile. He seemed…oddly familiar, but Matthew easily shook off that feeling.

"Ah, Matthew!" the man with the hat stood up and Matthew noticed that Gilbert had disappeared yet again, but he found the cat appearing next to the mouse with his own cackling laugh. He obviously knew these people. "Oi! Gits! We have a guest! Behave!" he snapped at the three.

"What're you gonna do?" Gilbert laughed. "Make us eat your scones?"

The man in the hat's face grew red and his scowl deepened. "That is no way to talk in front of a guest."

"Ah, do not mind them," the rabbit man rushed over to Matthew's side, delicately taking hold of his arm and leading him to the table. He seemed to almost purr as he spoke. "Sit down and have some tea with us. It is a party, after all."

"A party for what?" Matthew asked curiously. Normally, he wouldn't have the courage to even talk to people like this, but this was just a dream, no harm could really be done to him here. If it was his dream, too, he was in charge, so they couldn't do anything to him if he asked a simple question.

"For you!" the mouse chimed as Matthew was all but forced into his seat.

"For me?" Matthew asked. He already felt the blush rise to his face. No one spent that much effort on him usually. Parties that his parents threw were usually for the sake of business, even if it was under the guise of being for him or Alfred. This rang certain bells in his head and he was trying to remember, but it was just barely out of his reach.

"Of course, lad," the man in the hat smiled brightly at him. "Despite the idiots here, this party's always been exclusively for you!" The rabbit man started pouring Matthew some tea. Nothing came out of the pot, but his cup still filled, oddly enough. Matthew stared in awe.

"He's got some kind of spell on it," the mouse shrugged. "It'll only pour the drink you like the most!" Matthew stared in awe at it.

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot, my name is Francis," the rabbit smiled at him and gave a suggestive wink that made Matthew's face go even more red. "And before you ask, no I am not a filthy rabbit like the one running around like an idiot. I am a hare."

"You know Alfred?" Matthew's interest piqued. That was his whole point here, to find Alfred. Not like he really needed him for confidence anymore now that Matthew really figured out this dream thing. He just felt like he needed his brother now…He didn't get why, though.

"And my name is Antonio!" the mouse chimed, the others at the table basically ignoring Matthew's question. "And you've met the cat."

"I'm not just any cat," Gilbert scoffed proudly before disappearing and re-appearing pointedly between Matthew and Francis, who Matthew had just noticed was trying to snake his arm around Matthew's shoulder. "Remember that deal we made, Franny?"

"Oh, yes, of course, Matthew is all yours," Francis laughed and Matthew blushed, turning to his drink. He wondered if it was really the drink he liked most. It was a rare kind of tea that his mother brought back whenever she went to England, but Matthew always sweetened it with a ton of maple syrup. Matthew took a tentative sip and his eyes widened. It was better than he usually prepared it for himself. "He is just so adorable, I could not stop myself."

"Do you like it?" the man in the hat inquired and Matthew placed the cup down with a small smile.

"Yes, thank you," Matthew looked to him.

"Right, where are my manners?" the man in the hat sighed. "My name is Arthur. You can stay as long as you would like, Matthew, you're always welcome at your own party."

"Why is this a party for me?" Matthew asked. Everyone at the table was quiet and looked at him.

And then they all spoke together. "You're the most important person here." Matthew's blush immediately grew worse as Arthur started an argument at how people shouldn't steal his words before he says them. Matthew stared at his tea in silent awe. He wasn't that important. He couldn't be. He was just…Matthew. Nothing special about him, no way.

"Oi, Birdie," Gilbert's close voice broke Matthew out of his reverie and he jumped when he saw that the cat was directly in front of him, hovering over the table, their faces impossibly close.

"No cats on the table!" Arthur shouted at him.

"Of course you're important," Gilbert winked and disappeared once again to go back to Antonio's side.

"Ah, he is even cuter when he's flustered!" Francis laughed as Matthew bit his lip. He glanced around and noticed that the sun was already setting around them. How long had he been there for? The sun was high in the sky when he arrived…this didn't make sense. Was he just wasting time now? He didn't even remember why he was there. In fact…he couldn't remember. He just knew he was at this party especially for him…

"Is something wrong, lad?" Arthur asked and Matthew jumped slightly.

"Oh, everything's fine, don't worry," Matthew mumbled and took another drink from his tea. What was he forgetting now? It all felt so important…All he knew was that his goal was to get to Alfred in this crazy world. But…how did he know it was crazy? He couldn't even remember where he came from. He couldn't remember much. Was it the tea? No, it couldn't be. These people were nice, they only wanted Matthew to be happy.

"Wow, it's getting dark quick," Antonio laughed and Matthew noticed that now the sun was mostly set, leaving them in near darkness. How long had he spaced out for? Why did no one bring him back to reality or…whatever this was?

No, Matthew remembered, this was a dream. He took a deep breath to steady himself. That was why this was all so weird, it was just a silly dream.

"Oh, don't worry," Arthur said easily. Just as the last of the sun's rays disappeared from sight, various floating balls of light appeared around the table, lighting it up like streetlamps would a street. It was still a friendly atmosphere, but it looked like everything had changed from the bright colors of the day.

"He's a witch," Gilbert snickered and Arthur glared at him.

"You are the one that constantly teleports all around Wonderland!" Arthur snapped at him.

"I do it with good reason," Gilbert said happily.

"Dude, this is a wicked party." Matthew froze. That was Alfred's voice. He looked to his side, where he heard it, and saw Alfred, rabbit ears and all, kneeling right beside him, looking at all of the set up. "But you don't look like you're enjoying it. What the hell's up with that?"

"Alfred?" Matthew asked and the table was quiet immediately. Alfred chuckled awkwardly at all of the attention around him before darting off into the forest. "Wait! Alfred!" Matthew didn't even hesitate before running off after him, into the dark forest.

"Matthew!" Arthur snapped from the party, but it was too late, Matthew was far into the forest, trying to chase after his brother, who he could still barely see.

"Birdie!" Gilbert groaned, but Matthew was sure it'd be hard to find him now.

Matthew winced as pain shot up his arm as he scraped against a bush and he cried out slightly. That was…odd. This was a dream, he shouldn't be able to feel pain so real. He ran some more, various other parts of his body receiving scratches and Matthew had to stop. The moon shone bright ahead of him, but it was blocked by the trees. Form what he could vaguely tell, these bushes were far different than the rest. They were huge and black, with massive thorns covering them. They completely blocked Matthew's path in every direction. Matthew looked at his arm and shivered when he saw that he was bleeding, quite a lot actually. It was a really deep cut. He could only assume how bad everything else was.

"Yeah, the forest changes with the time of day," Gilbert sighed in front of him and Matthew reeled back, into a few more thorns to create mores pace between them. "You'd have been safer if you stayed at the party." Gilbert was acting…weird. He was serious. He looked genuinely concerned for Matthew, from what he could see on his face. He quickly gripped onto Matthew's arm to look at it closer. "You're the safest at day and least safe at night, isn't that something even your world knows?"

"We don't have forests that change," Matthew muttered and winced when Gilbert ran a thumb over his wound. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help," Gilbert stared him in the eyes and Matthew nearly felt his knees go weak. This was drastically different from the smirking, cackling Gilbert during the day. He was serious, he was protective. He looked like he could honestly kill anyone that tried to hurt Matthew when he was in this state. Gilbert sighed as he retracted his hand and, curiously enough, he licked it. Then, he brought his hand back to Matthew and placed it right over the wound on his arm.

It stung slightly and Matthew winced, but Gilbert stayed focused. He retracted his hand to lick it again and Matthew was shocked to see that his wound was mostly healed. Gilbert put his hand over it again and it stung less this time. When he moved his hand away, the wound and all of the blood were completely gone.

"How are you doing that?" Matthew asked in awe.

"I just can," Gilbert muttered and moved to another wound on the same arm. "You're a lot of trouble, Birdie."

"Sorry," Matthew muttered. "I just…saw my brother."

"Why are you chasing him?" Gilbert asked, moving to his other arm.

"I don't really know," Matthew admitted. What was the harm of telling this to a person in his dream? Despite how real it felt, maybe he just thought it felt real and that was why it hurt. That was the best explanation he could come up with. But Gilbert couldn't really hurt him, this was just a dream. There was no harm in having no idea what he was doing.

"Better find yourself a reason or you're going to get lost," Gilbert said, moving down to Matthew's legs. There were cuts all over his suit, Matthew noticed and groaned slightly. "It's just a suit, Birdie. Don't worry about it."

"What did you mean by I'll get lost?" Matthew asked curiously as Gilbert finished and stood up.

"Wonderland's a special place," Gilbert smirked once again. "When you get here, you know exactly what you have to do, but Wonderland wants you to stay. So it distracts you for as long as it can. You lose your goal. Without that goal, you can never leave. Wonderland will keep you prisoner."

"Is that what happened to all of you?" Matthew asked carefully.

"Oh, God, no," Gilbert laughed. "We're just your distractions! We all want you to stay."

"Do you want me to stay?" Matthew asked. He knew Gilbert obviously felt something for him. Did that mean he wanted Matthew to stay more than anyone? Why would he be telling him all of this in that case?

"More than anything," Gilbert smiled, carefully tracing the hand he didn't lick over Matthew's face. "But I can't allow you to stay here. I need you to remember your goal."

"I don't understand," Matthew shook his head.

Gilbert leaned close to Matthew, his lips dangerously close to Matthew's ears when he spoke again. "You won't understand until you wake up." There was a long pause while Matthew's heart pounded quickly and blood rushed to his face. "And I need you to wake up."

"Why?" Matthew barely managed to get out.

"You have better things to do than get stuck here," Gilbert sighed, resting his chin on Matthew's shoulder for a while. "Good luck."

And then the cat disappeared. Matthew was left standing alone and he soon found that his legs couldn't support him anymore. He dropped to the ground, which felt coarse and rough, far different from the smooth grass from before. Gilbert was…interesting. Matthew could give him that. But he didn't know what Gilbert was talking about with goals. Wasn't his goal to find Alfred?

But that didn't seem like all of it.

Find Alfred and…

And…

And…

Go home.

* * *

**The last, like, 800 words came as a surprise to me. Didn't expect that to happen, but it did and I enjoyed it! Hope you guys did, too! I enjoy the Hatter the most out of all Alice in Wonderland characters, no matter how he's portrayed, I always love him! And I love Arthur, so they can go happily together forever!**

**Anyway, next chapter we get to meet…Queen of Hearts, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and my added character of the King of Hearts (not dead)!**

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Matthew didn't even know he'd fallen asleep until he opened his eyes and he was lying on soft grass, a warm breeze whipping by his face. He quickly sat upright and found that he was in the middle of a friendly looking forest, thick brown tree stumps and bright green leaves, red apples, roses all over the ground. Far different from the terrifying thorns from the night before. Matthew stood quickly and examined the wounds he was sure he still had. There were cuts on his clothing, but his skin looked fine…

He blushed when he remembered what Gilbert had done the night before. He bit his lip and looked around the forest. It didn't seem like anyone was really around, for once. It was calm and peaceful. Matthew smiled to himself as he stood and stretched. This was very nice and relaxing…Matthew sorted through his thoughts. He was doing something, he was sure of it. He just had to remember. Gilbert had said something about that the night before.

"I found one!" someone shouted suddenly and Matthew jumped, looking in the direction of the voice. He couldn't see anything, just the trees and the roses.

"We're looking for roses, not people, idiot!" another person snapped and Matthew tensed slightly. Who were these people and what did they want? He couldn't think clearly. "Wait, what the fuck?"

And then two heads poked out from behind a tree, both looking directly at Matthew. He jumped and stumbled back slightly. They looked extremely similar, enough to be twins. One had lighter hair and a rather ridiculous smile on his face while the other one, with darker hair, wore a scowl. They also had the oddest curls sticking out of their heads, but Matthew was learning to look past the weird in this world.

"See? I told you!" the happier one chimed and the grouchier one glared at him. "He looks interesting! Wait, is this Matthew?"

"So what if it is?" the angrier one scoffed. How did everyone know Matthew's name here? It was so weird…That was when Matthew remembered, this was all just a dream. He had no idea how he had managed to sleep and wake up in his dream, but that was a question for another day. Gilbert told him to find a goal and he'd found it just before he fell asleep. He wanted to get out. Matthew gained more courage, knowing this was a dream, and stepped forward. These guys couldn't hurt him, they were just dreams.

"Who are you two?" Matthew asked carefully.

The angrier one glared at him while the happier one smiled brightly and came out fully from behind the tree. He was just as well dressed as everyone. It seemed like everyone here was dressed for a party, but Matthew had only really seen one party.

"Oh! I'm Feliciano! Call me Feli!" the happy one cheered. "And this is my brother, Lovi."

"Don't fucking call me that, you idiot!" the angry one snapped and stepped out as well. "It's Lovino, don't get it wrong, got that?" He glared at Matthew and looked like he was sizing him up for something. Matthew shifted, slightly uncomfortable under his gaze.

"The Queen said we should bring Matthew to her if we found him!" Feliciano smiled.

"It's better than picking fucking roses," Lovino grumbled.

"What?" Matthew stuttered slightly. He composed himself quickly, though. Just a dream, nothing to worry about. "Where are you thinking of taking me?"

"The castle of course!" Feliciano chimed and ran towards him, Lovino walking behind him. Before long, Feliciano had a secure grip on Matthew's arm and started pulling him forward.

"Wait!" Matthew protested as Lovino gripped hard onto his arm and started dragging him as well. "What are you doing? Where are you taking me? Who is this Queen?"

"You'll see when you get there!" Feliciano winked at him.

"Idiot! It's this way!" Lovino snapped, pulling Matthew in the opposite direction Feliciano was taking him.

"No…I'm pretty sure it's this way…" Feliciano muttered, glancing further into the forest. It all looked the same to Matthew, so he had no idea how they could possibly know where they're going.

"You're the one that gets us lost all the time! Shut up, I'm leading this time!" Lovino snapped.

"But Lovi," Feliciano whined.

"Don't!" Lovino glared at him. "Matthew's gotta get there soon to be happy, don't you know anything, fucking idiot…"

Why did everyone care so much that Matthew was happy? It didn't make sense, he was usually so overlooked…Why was everyone's attention on him here? Feliciano eventually gave up and allowed Lovino to lead and they were lead through the maze of forest. And, eventually, the forest thinned. Matthew nearly expected this to be just another small clearing in the forest, but he was sadly mistaken once they passed the last tree in front of them.

It was a massive castle that stood before them threateningly, the bricks all a shade of red, whether it was a light pink or a deep blood red. The castle was massive and looked like there would be a labyrinth of hallways on the inside. Guards stood ahead of them, guarding the massive red doors. They were dressed in red and oddly enough had numbers on their chests. They were both labeled as 10s.

"Why do they have 10s on their chest?" Matthew asked.

"That's the highest number," Lovino scoffed, saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Who else would the Queen trust to guard the entrance?" The guards nodded to them and the doors opened before them. They continued to pull Matthew inside, even as he stared in awe at the red tapestries and carpets that were strewn across the entrance hall.

They pulled him to another large door that was opened for them and they stood in a room filled with bright red tiles that scattered the ground, the walls covered in red and pink tapestries and lined with people, all wearing red and with different numbers on their chests, between 2 and 10. At the very end of the room, sitting on two red thrones, were who were obviously the King and Queen.

The King had very neat, very well put together black hair and glasses neatly fitted onto his nose. He wore an impressive suit with a tailcoat, completely red like the rest of the room. The Queen, beside him, wore an incredibly opulent dress, all kinds of reds, pinks, white, and black. It had hearts scattered around it. Her light brown hair framed her face well and she smiled softly at Matthew.

"You must be Matthew!" she chimed happily, standing from her throne and rushing to him. Lovino and Feliciano let go of him and went to either side of the room before Matthew was completely surrounded in a hug. He froze. He certainly wasn't expecting that. Just a moment ago, she was sitting down regally, looking incredibly self-important. And now she was happily squealing about how she finally got to meet him. "I'm so jealous of all of the others, they got to see you yesterday! I had to wait a whole day to see you! It's the damn cat's fault, I'll cut off his head…"

"Ouch," Gilbert's voice sounded off and the Queen pulled away, glaring back at her throne, where Gilbert was lounging happily. The King looked almost offended that the cat was so close to him so he stood and walked further away from him. "I'm so offended, Lizzy."

"You quite deserve the rotten treatment," the King huffed, straightening out his already perfect clothing.

"Whatever," Gilbert shrugged. "You've got way too much red in here."

"I like the color red," the Queen huffed. She turned back to Matthew with a bright smile. "My name is Elizabeta, by the way. But you can call me Eliza! No need to use formalities."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Matthew," the King nodded to him. "My name is Roderich."

"It's nice to meet both of you," Matthew said, feeling a little flustered. Even if this was a dream, this was a lot of attention from royalty, of all people. It was a lot to take in.

"Oh, we must have a party for you!" Elizabeta said happily, clapping her hands together and moving to Roderich. "We could invite everyone, except the damn cat."

"I go where I want, with or without an invitation!" Gilbert cackled and stood easily from the throne. "You can't stop me from showing up! Besides, he's _my_ Birdie, if you remember."

"Right, the only positive thing about you…" Elizabeta hummed, thinking hard. "Fine, I'll allow you to come, only if you're Matthew's date."

"What?" Matthew squeaked, a blush matching the color of the room rising to his face. Gilbert laughed even harder and suddenly appeared beside Matthew, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and leaning his face very close.

"Whaddya say?" Gilbert smirked. "You wanna be my date to this party?"

"I don't even know what this party is," Matthew said, taking a step back. Gilbert nearly fell over, but kept his balance and looked at him with slightly sad eyes, but he look was gone quickly.

"It's your party, of course!" Elizabeta smiled at him. "Roderich could play the piano for you and Arthur can make your favorite tea! It could be tomorrow!"

"Why would you do all that just for me? We've only just met," Matthew muttered.

"You're important to us," Elizabeta chimed.

"There is nothing we wouldn't do for you," Roderich said.

"Can I invite Ludwig to the party?" Feliciano asked excitedly and Elizabeta nodded happily. He cheered and rushed out of the room, Lovino following behind him, yelling something about a potato bastard.

"Distractions," Gilbert whispered into Matthew's ear and he jumped, glaring at the cat, who just winked and flicked his tail about happily. Matthew remembered. It was a dream, he had to find Alfred. He had to get out. But he glanced at Elizabeta, who was excitedly chatting to Roderich about the decorations, and he wondered why he had to leave. Everyone had their eyes on him, they all knew his name, they all loved him. They were easier to talk to than real people…

Matthew saw a glimpse of Alfred, who was standing on the other end of the room, beside a door. He was looking at Matthew curiously. Maybe Matthew should just talk to his brother really quick, get across what he needed to talk about. Alfred understood him, maybe he could help Matthew figure this out. He stepped forward and Alfred noticed, immediately running through the door.

Matthew rolled his eyes, wondering why his brother always ran from him, but chased after him anyway.

"Matthew?" Elizabeta asked in surprise as Matthew ran by, going after his brother.

As soon as he entered the hall, however, he found it empty. Matthew silently cursed his brother as he carefully walked down the hall, maybe he could find him as long as he didn't get too far. He made sure to make his footsteps quiet as he walked by, carefully listening into the doors he passed. His brother was never good at being quiet, so he could probably hear him if he was behind the door.

As Matthew rounded a corner, however, he heard something interesting. It sounded like a piano. Matthew followed the sound…it was almost hypnotic. He found the door it was coming from and carefully opened it, peering inside. The room only held a black and white tile floor and a piano. The sound coming from it was loud, but no one was there to press down the keys. Still, he could see it playing, as if an invisible man was playing the instrument.

Matthew didn't even notice he was halfway into the room until the door suddenly closed and he jumped, turning around. Gilbert stood right in front of him with his usual, wicked smirk.

"Care to dance?" Gilbert asked simply and Matthew found that his arms moved without his consent, already taking hold of Gilbert's hand and assuming a dancing position. They started to move, but Matthew couldn't even protest.

* * *

**My friend gave me this really cool idea about a waltz where people have no control over their dancing, so this happened. I've noticed that I use Alfred as a plot device to move Matthew along and I'm not sure if the original Alice in Wonderland movie did that, but I'm sure it sort of did. Oh, goodness, look it's the white rabbit I'm chasing for no reason, let's move to a different place! In any case, Alfred does have a good purpose and I'm not complaining. He does really help the plot along, so I'm okay with him. And Gilbert. Poor Gilbert. You got to see a little about it this chapter and you'll definitely see more next, but he's an incredibly tragic character. Anyway, this story's wrapping up soon, only about two chapters left!**

**And I'm sad because I should have updated two days ago, but I got stressed out because of this stupid scholarship writing thing and finals and blah! so I finally got a chance to catch my breath and so you got this chapter! Next one should be on the 21st. You can slap me if it's not up by then.**

**Only one character next chapter that's new, and he's one I made up….The Ace of Hearts! (Nothing like Ace in Heart no Kuni no Alice...)**

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you doing?" Matthew demanded as his feet moved without his consent to the beat of the beautiful song coming from the piano with no player. Gilbert simply smirked and spun Matthew gracefully before pulling him back, close to him. "Gilbert."

"We're dancing," Gilbert said happily and the beat of the song slowly quickened and both of them sped up accordingly, but Matthew still had no control of his body.

"Why?" Matthew asked. Of course, he didn't mind being this close to the cat, but he couldn't get past the feeling that Gilbert was up to something with everything that he was doing. Gilbert spun him again, this time keeping Matthew's back to him and securing his arm across Matthew's chest as they continued to sway to the beat.

"Because I've always wanted to dance with you," Gilbert purred into his ear and turned him back around to face forward again. Matthew couldn't even try to hide his blush. This didn't make any sense. Why was he reacting this much to Gilbert? He'd only met him a short while ago and he hadn't gotten to know him. Gilbert was just around to annoy him a lot. But every little thing he did, the things he said, had Matthew falling. Hard.

"Don't say things like that," Matthew muttered. He couldn't control his head, just his eyes. He refused to look at Gilbert's face. If he did, however, he would have seen the sad smile and the downcast look that Gilbert gave him.

"Why not?" Gilbert asked. The speed grew again and they were able to do fancier turns at a faster pace. Gilbert seemed to enjoy a fast pace far more than slow. He was having more fun now. "You deserve to hear things like that, Matthew."

"I don't understand any of what's going on!" Matthew snapped, looking at Gilbert now. Those ruby eyes giving him undivided attention, his ears perked and ready to listen. "Everyone here knows my name and wants to give me all of their attention! I don't understand! I'm not that special, I should even know that in my own dream. I don't need all of this attention! I don't know why I'm dreaming about it!"

"You don't need to understand," Gilbert smirked, leaning very close to his face, their lips just inches apart. Matthew's heartbeat could probably be heard by Gilbert, considering how close he was, and he let out a shuddered breath. "Just roll with it. That's life."

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean," Matthew sighed. He wished he could control his body. All he could do was bite his lip and inwardly hit himself for wishing to be able to lean his head forward and close the gap between their lips.

"That's fine," Gilbert smirked and released one hand from him, but they still continued their dance. He carefully traced Matthew's burning face, tracing a nail over his lips carefully. That was when Matthew saw the sad look in his eyes. The distress that smoldered in them.

"If you want to kiss me, you should," Matthew said. There was no problem saying something so bold if it was just a dream, after all. There were no real world repercussions.

"Oh, Birdie, I wish I could," Gilbert muttered, cupping Matthew's cheek in his hand.

"What is that supposed to mean," Matthew muttered.

"It's not my place," Gilbert whispered in his ear before disappearing from sight. Matthew blinked in surprise for a moment before he realized he was still dancing against his will.

"Gilbert!" Matthew snapped. "Gilbert, come back!" There was no sound except for the piano and Matthew's steps. His arms were still out, holding onto a partner that had left, and he couldn't stop himself. His blush grew when he realized how stupid and embarrassing this was.

He heard the door open behind him as he swayed to the beat and he heard the sigh of a person he hadn't met yet. There was a slam of the piano cover over the keys and the music stopped. Matthew's arms dropped to his side and he stood still, recovering.

"Was it the cat?" the new man asked and Matthew jumped, looking at him. He was a very large man, but the bright red suit undermined any intimidation he held. He had very neat, slicked back blonde hair and cold blue eyes. His suit jacket boasted a letter in black, just underneath his pink handkerchief. The letter A.

"Yes," Matthew said carefully. "Thank you for stopping the music. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You are welcome, Matthew," the man nodded to him. "The others are looking for you, the party has started."

"What?" Matthew blinked. No way, Elizabeta had said that the party would be the next day.

"You spent all night dancing," the man said before moving towards the door. All night? How was that even possible? But...even then, this was a weird dream all of the time. "I'll escort you to the party at the Clock."

"The Clock?" Matthew asked. He remembered, when he first got there, he tried walking to the Clock, but he only got to the tea party because of how confusing this place was. Gilbert had said that he shouldn't go there then, but maybe he was supposed to be there now. Matthew nodded and followed shortly after the man. He was mostly silent, but very nice, opening doors for Matthew and walking behind him until there was another door. "What's your name?"

"Ludwig," the man said simply. "I am the Ace of Hearts, their best soldier." Matthew nodded, following him outside of the castle. Ludwig walked with purpose through the forest, obviously knowing exactly where he was going. Matthew followed him dumbly. "I hope you enjoy your party."

"They didn't have to throw one for me," Matthew muttered.

"Why shouldn't they?" Ludwig asked and Matthew blinked. Before he could respond, they reached a new clearing. A large clock tower stood at one end and, in front of it, was a neat and clean large table with a clean tablecloth covering it expertly. Everyone was there, sitting and talking. And all of them looked right at Matthew the second he entered the clearing. They all noticed him immediately. Matthew glanced up at the clock, wondering how time worked there in Wonderland. But all he found was that the clock was stuck. It was one minute until 12, the second hand refusing to move.

"Matthew!" Elizabeta rushed from her seat to greet him and everyone else followed suit. Feliciano hugged him with Elizabeta while Francis and Antonio tried to talk his ear off. Kiku asked him how he was doing and Lovino stayed on the opposite side of him than Ludwig, but still smiled at Matthew. Arthur and Roderich calmly welcomed him to the party and Gilbert smirked from a fair distance away.

"Thank you, everyone," Matthew smiled at them as they moved away, surrounding him in a friendly circle full of smiles. "You really didn't have to do all of this for me."

"Oh, don't be silly," Elizabeta said with a wave of her hand and held onto his hand shortly after, pulling him over to the head of the table. The chair was incredibly opulent with balloons tied to it and the largest spread of food in front of it. Elizabeta sat him down on it and he stared at her in wonder. "We wanted to!"

"I was more than happy to provide the tea you liked so much," Arthur said proudly and Matthew stared at the cup that sat in front of him. He couldn't stop the smile on his face while everyone returned to their seats, Gilbert on Matthew's closest right. They all joked and laughed and included Matthew into everything. It was so different from the real world…

Matthew never wanted to wake up.

* * *

Matthew was laughing really hard to a joke Antonio had been trying to tell that Lovino interrupted when he heard an odd sound.

_Tick_

Matthew paused for a moment before he looked up at the clock. Everyone else followed suit. The second hand was moving.

_Tick_

"Oh, so soon?" Elizabeta pouted.

"You got so happy so fast!" Feliciano smiled.

"Remember us, won't you?" Kiku offered a smile.

"What?" Matthew asked. The clock continued to tick around them and he stood up. What were they all saying? It almost sounded like a goodbye…What did that mean?

"It's the rules," Gilbert said as he stood up and walked over to Matthew. "You found what you were looking for, yeah?"

"What? No," Matthew shook his head. "I-I didn't find Alfred." In fact, he'd forgotten about Alfred. "I didn't find a way…home…"

"The way home is to find what you came here to look for," Gilbert carded his hand through Matthew's hair. Matthew's heart pounded. It was like all of the others had stopped and it was just him and Gilbert standing there, alone with the ticking of the clock. "I'm so happy you found what made you happy."

"No, I'm not happy," Matthew shook his head, pushing Gilbert's hand away. "No…I just got here, it's only been two days! I can't just…leave…"

"It's how it works," Gilbert shrugged. The clock was moving sluggishly, obviously these seconds were slower than actual seconds. Matthew was scared to look at the face to see how little time he had left.

"Don't you dare say goodbye," Matthew demanded.

"What do you want me to say?" Gilbert asked.

"K-kiss me," Matthew stuttered.

"I can't do that," Gilbert shook his head. "I wish I could."

"Why not?" Matthew demanded. "You go around doing what you want all the time. What makes this any different?"

"It's not my place," Gilbert shook his head.

Matthew took a deep breath and mustered his courage. He'd never find an opportunity like this outside of his dream. He had to do something to show that he genuinely wanted to stay. Maybe he could, he had no idea. Matthew pressed his lips to Gilbert's and Gilbert froze. His lips were soft and cold, almost like they were fake, but Matthew didn't care, he pressed further. He had to prove his point.

Gilbert sighed and pushed him back, not too far away, but definitely not close enough. "I can't. It's really not my place, Birdie."

"But you've wanted to," Matthew protested. "What the hell did I even find here?"

"Friends," Gilbert shrugged. "A place to be comfortable. You were searching for it and you found it. Wonderland can't keep you here anymore. It may have wanted to, but we all care about you too much to let you stay."

"No, I want to stay," Matthew shook his head. "Everyone here…"

"Don't worry about us," Gilbert smiled. Matthew glanced at the table and found that everyone had disappeared from the table. He felt burning tears rise to his eyes, his face stung. "Don't cry for us. Trust me, it'll all be okay."

"No, it won't," Matthew shook his head violently. The clock started to chime loudly and his heart plummeted. "No, please."

"Birdie, I need you to wake up."

"No!" Matthew yelled at him.

"Please," Gilbert cupped his chin. "Wake up. Please."

"No," Matthew shook his head.

"Matthew," everyone's voices chimed at once and Matthew glanced at all of them, who suddenly appeared around him and Gilbert. "Please, wake up. Matthew."

"No!" Matthew held onto his head. "I don't want to!" The chiming of the clock was so loud it was like it was ringing in his head, nearly making it explode. This didn't feel right, he couldn't explain it. This was a dream he never wanted to wake up from. "Please…"

"Wake up."

"Dude!" Alfred shouted, pushing his way through the crowd. He gripped hard onto Matthew's shoulders, looking him right in the eye. "Wake up! Mattie! Come on, dude! Wake up!"

He continued to shake him, subsequently shaking away the dream around them, the people around them. Matthew couldn't do anything, say anything, as that reality was stripped away from him. And he was forcefully pulled back into his actual reality. The one he didn't want to see again.

* * *

**So many people in the last scene, not enough space or time to write all of them… Sad face. Anyway, Gilbert got to be serious and I really love his serious tone, almost as much as his usual, cocky tone. Now, I know it's a little confusing, but wait for next chapter, where everything gets explained and wrapped up all nice and stuff. It's one hell of an ending, it was actually the first thing I made for this story!**

**Anywho, please review! No new characters next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

Matthew was shaken awake and he blearily looked around. In front of him was his brother…without rabbit ears. Just normal Alfred staring at him with wide blue eyes filled with nervousness. He stopped shaking him and they both stared at each other for a while.

"Dude!" Alfred cheered and hugged Matthew tightly. Matthew slowly hugged him back, a little sad. Alfred had dragged him out of his dream, forcefully. The dream he'd enjoyed more than real life. His lips still felt heavy after kissing Gilbert like he had. "I was so worried! How much sleep did you get last night? Don't just go passing out in the maze in the middle of a party!"

"I'm sorry, Al," Matthew muttered, patting his brother's back before they pulled back. "Really. I'll try to be more careful."

"And you got yourself hurt," Alfred groaned, looking over Matthew. There were rips on his jacket and pants, the exact places Matthew had brushed against the thorns. There was no blood from when Gilbert licked them clean. "You don't look hurt too bad…" Matthew smiled slightly. "Dude, swear to me you won't do that again! We gotta get you inside to rest properly…"

"I brought the rag you asked for," a familiar voice chimed and a woman sat beside them, wringing out the rag from a little bowl filled with water before looking up. Matthew nearly gasped. This woman…her brown hair, the green eyes, the smile on her face. The only thing that was different was the dress. It was a calm green, rather than a bright red.

"Elizabeta?" Matthew blurted out before he could stop himself. Alfred raised an eyebrow at them curiously.

"It's very nice to meet you, Matthew," Elizabeta smiled and carefully dabbed at his forehead with the rag. It felt nice against his got skin.

"How...how do you know my name?" Matthew asked.

"Uh, dude, it's kinda your party," Alfred shrugged. "Everyone knows who you are." Then, Alfred leaned close to his ear. "And since when could you talk so easily to girls?"

"I don't know," Matthew muttered as Elizabeta smiled at him, looking over his cuts.

"Well, you don't look hurt. I'm glad," Elizabeta gave an even wider smile. "I think you could rejoin the party if you felt up to it."

And that was when it hit Matthew, almost dead on. His party. He'd spent the weeks leading up to it researching and knowing all about the party guests. Their personalities, their hobbies, their personal lives. The people in his dream…they were the guests at the party. Matthew had always been really good at figuring out a person's personality by looking through their personal information and always got it nearly dead on. Elizabeta smiled at him with an offered hand. Elizabeta, a Hungarian married to an Austrian and very high up the political ladder, about to take over after her mother.

"It's alright, a lady doesn't have to help a man up," Alfred said proudly, getting up quickly. Matthew took Elizabeta's offered hand with a smile.

"Thank you," Matthew smiled and Elizabeta smiled right back. "I think…I'd like to go back to the party."

"You sure, man?" Alfred asked him carefully. "If you're still tired…"

"I'm fine, Al, really," Matthew nodded to him. "Elizabeta, if you want help through the maze, I could help you get back as well."

"Well, thank you," Elizabeta laughed. "I had quite a rough time following Alfred through the bushes trying to find you. I'm happy you were alright when we found you. Were you just stressed out about the party?"

"I'm not much of a people person," Matthew admitted with a shrug.

"You looked a little frightened at the beginning of the party," Elizabeta said as Matthew lead her through the maze expertly. It was nothing compared to the forest of his dreams. "I was just about to talk to you before you ran off on your own."

"Sorry about that," Matthew rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just…overwhelmed. I think I'm okay now, though. A good rest was just what I needed."

"To tell you the truth," Elizabeta whispered to him with a smirk playing on her face. "I hate this dress. I'm wearing pants underneath it, I feel more comfortable. I just wish I could go to parties without wearing dresses, but Roderich insisted I look like a proper lady."

"I didn't know that," Matthew smiled. That was in none of the information. But, a lot of stuff wasn't. He really hoped not many other people were drastically different than his dream made them out to be.

"Not a lot of people do," Elizabeta winked just as they left the maze, the party still in full swing. There was delicate music playing while everyone mingled. Matthew easily picked out the people he knew from his dream, the most interesting people he found on their invitation list. Elizabeta pulled him over to Roderich. "Roderich, this is Matthew!"

"A pleasure to meet you," Roderich held out his hand to shake and Matthew took it gladly. He looked far more sophisticated when not in a red suit, Matthew had to admit. He smiled at him. "I believe my wife has already introduced us."

"Yes," Matthew laughed slightly. He glanced back to see his brother looking at him, dumbfounded at the edge of the maze. "I'm sorry, but I believe I should at least greet some of the other guests and apologize for my absence."

"Of course," Elizabeta smiled. "It's your party."

"Right," Matthew nodded. He looked around and saw the closest group to him. Feliciano and Lovino, twins from Italy that were in the wine industry, already taken over their grandfather's company after he died. With them was Kiku, the son of Japanese manufacturing tycoon that was usually quiet and reserved, preferred to not let people get to know him on a deep level. Ludwig, the youngest of a German company that was focused on getting Germany onto clean energy. Little brother of…

They all looked over at him as he walked over. Feliciano was the first to speak, naturally.

"Hello!" Feliciano chimed, grabbing hold of Matthew's hand. "Ciao!" He swiftly kissed both of Matthew's cheeks in greeting and Matthew laughed.

"Idiot," Lovino growled, pulling him back by his collar. They were dressed nearly exactly the same as in Matthew's dream. Maybe he was more observant than he thought he was before he ran away. "What the fuck did I tell you about other people feeling uncomfortable about our greeting?"

"I don't mind at all," Matthew laughed. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"A pleasure to meet you as well," Kiku bowed to him and Matthew bowed back. It was a rehearsed move their father made them repeat over and over again so he wouldn't insult the Japanese customs.

"I saw you run away a while ago, is everything alright?" Feliciano asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine, nothing to worry about," Matthew said with a wave of his hand. "I was just…stressed out was all."

"It was nice to meet you," Ludwig said gruffly.

"Likewise," Matthew nodded. He felt happiness rise in his chest. He was so terrified of losing all of these people that he got to know that he forgot that they were all outside of his dreams. It was fantastic to see all of them again. He nearly felt like crying, but he held himself together. For the sake of his new friends.

They talked for a short while before Matthew excused himself again and found another group of people around the punch. Francis, French heir to his father's incredibly successful restaurant chain. Antonio, whose father married into an impressive Spanish banking company. Arthur, the son of the Brit in charge of the company that their father negotiated with the most. And…uh…

Gilbert…Older brother of Ludwig, heir to their company. And the person Matthew had unknowingly gained a crush on when doing his research. He was…attractive, smart, strong, protective…He was the cat that Matthew remembered. Matthew looked at everyone but him.

"Hello," Matthew muttered, feeling oddly more nervous for this part than the others. "I'm terribly sorry for running out earlier. You all have my sincerest apologies."

"Ah, yes, I was wondering why our petit host would leave in such a rush," Francis smirked as he sipped his punch.

"I'm sure Gilbert was worried," Antonio snickered.

"Oi!" Gilbert snapped at them from across the table. He hissed quietly at them. "He doesn't have to know that." Francis merely winked at him.

"Honestly," Arthur scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You are all so obnoxious and immature."

"And you still hang out with us, mon cher," Francis laughed and Arthur shook his head.

"It appears you have a new toy to play with," Arthur sighed. "I'm sorry, lad." He walked away quickly, finding better conversation with Elizabeta and Roderich, leaving Matthew alone with the three that he just knew would get along well when he conducted his research.

"I swear to Gott, if you say a single word-" Gilbert began to threaten his friends, but they were already on either side of Matthew, their arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"Now, Mattie," Antonio laughed. "We've got a few important things to tell you before we leave you two alone."

"What?" Matthew squeaked. No, he really didn't want to be alone. Everyone here was different than in his dream, at least slightly. And that was because he over fantasized their personalities. He'd fallen for the Gilbert he'd overly fantasized in his mind, he didn't want to deal with a letdown or worse if he was left alone with Gilbert. He really didn't want to embarrass himself.

"Oh, don't worry, he won't bite you," Francis snickered. "Yet."

"So you two have a death wish?" Gilbert snapped at both of them and Matthew marveled at how obvious his blush was with his incredibly pale features, he hadn't even though about that. An albino blushing… "And get the fuck off of him."

"You see, there was this little…bet we had going between us," Francis explained.

"Stop!" Gilbert groaned. "Mein Gott, I'll just leave."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Antonio laughed. "We won the bet, because he got drunk off his ass."

"It was a fucking drinking game," Gilbert groaned and Matthew couldn't stop little giggles from escaping his mouth. Yes, Gilbert seemed a little different, but it wasn't bad. Not at all.

"And the rules of this bet were," Francis smirked as Gilbert grew even more red from where he stood, obviously pissed off that he couldn't do anything with this, "to confess all of his feelings that he's had for you."

Matthew's eyes widened as he stood there, stock still. Gilbert's friends laughed before running off, leaving the two of them to stand in awkward silence. Confess his feelings? What? Matthew had only really known him for a day or so. Sure, he saw him on a few other guest lists, he was hard to ignore, but Matthew never really did research on him until this party, specifically.

"Those fucking…" Gilbert groaned after a while, slamming his glass down before quickly moving so that he stood in front of Matthew. "Okay, I'm going to just get this over with, like ripping off a bandage, alright? You're gonna listen to all of it and then you're going to make your decision, only after I'm finished, okay?"

"Sure," Matthew nodded. He honestly couldn't think of anything else to say.

Gilbert muttered something in German as he ran his hand over his face and ruffled up his already messy hair. "Okay, so I've seen you at parties and shit for a while, right? And…I dunno you're fucking cute, it's hard to miss you." Matthew blushed and looked at Gilbert's feet. "And I did research on you. Fuck it, everyone does that. You probably know everything about me." Matthew nodded. He did. He even knew about Gilbert's drinking addiction, which Matthew chose to ignore. "And I like ya, okay? There." He paused and Matthew looked up at him only to find that Gilbert was looking away. This was different from the cat. No confident, husky whispers in the forest, no tricks with teleporting. This was just Gilbert, the person that claimed he was confident and awesome, and at the same time was totally lame. "So? If you wanna yell at me or whatever, I'm okay with that. Just…say…something, I don't know."

"Thank you," Matthew said and Gilbert blinked in confusion before looking right at him. Damn, those red eyes looked even better in person. "No one's ever said that to me before. So, thank you very much."

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure no problem, I'm just awesome like that," Gilbert shrugged.

"And…" Matthew muttered. "I'd have to say…why not give it a try?"

"You mean…?" Gilbert stared at him, confused.

"Yeah," Matthew nodded. "It's the 21st century, why can't we?"

"None of your fucking research said you were gay, it said you were straight, fucking…wrong…" Gilbert grumbled and Matthew laughed.

"I think I might have just recently found it out," Matthew laughed. Sure, he thought he was straight, but during his whole dream, his subconscious was perfectly fine with a man flirting with him. And he got a crush on the man, despite him being straight. Matthew just didn't realize it was a crush until he figured out his feelings for the man in his dreams.

"I'm just so fucking hot, I turn all the straight men gay, is that it?" Gilbert smirked cockily and Matthew laughed.

"Sure," Matthew smiled.

"You know, the information also said you were shy as fuck," Gilbert said, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"I am," Matthew muttered. "I just open up easier to people that I know." He shrugged when Gilbert raised an eyebrow at him. Matthew was sure he'd tell him about that dream eventually, just not that moment. He glanced at the party, looking at the friends that he had made, yet was still in the process of making. Alfred looked impressed from where he stood, hardly paying attention to the conversations he was holding with the various adults at the party.

Matthew bit his lip and quickly went onto the tips of his toes, placing a quick peck on Gilbert's lips when it looked like no one was paying attention to them. His lips were nothing like the cat. They were warm and felt perfect when pressed against Matthew's.

"Wanna dance, Birdie?" Gilbert laughed slightly and Matthew noticed a flash of a camera. He glanced over and saw Elizabeta hiding something behind her back while Roderich scolded her and Kiku rushed to the napkins.

"I'd be happy to," Matthew smiled. "But my name's not Birdie."

"I know, I just like the nickname," Gilbert shrugged.

Yeah, they were different. But it was okay. He looked forward to getting to know his friends all over again. And this time he wouldn't dare wake up from his dream.

His Wonderland.

* * *

**I enjoyed this very much! I loved the idea of his mind helping prepare him for a party by making him go through a dream with the people he liked most at** **the party. I enjoyed it a lot. Matthew's extremely observant as a wall flower and he did a lot of research, which is why the dream people were so close to the real people. And I tried to make the ending not cheesy, but I loved the way I ended it, so it's fine. **

**Please tell me what you thought of this story! And Happy Holidays! To every holiday people celebrate this time of year!**

**I do not and never will own Hetalia!**


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